Week 4: More isn’t always better

I bumped into a group of colleagues from a different department in my company in the elevator on the way to the gym. I was hurrying up to exercise and they were discussing their lunch. With a big bag on my shoulders, they asked me how big my lunch box was! LOL.

No, they asked me what I’m up to. When I told them that I use the lunch break time to go to the gym to exercise, they all laughed at me. “What will you accomplish in an hour?” Given that I need to change clothes and shower, someone rephrased the question: “What can you get done in 30 minutes?”

I’d like to discuss but I didn’t have time so I just smiled and told them, “better than nothing” and I ran out once the elevator door opened.

The truth is, I don’t need 2 hours in the gym to “get things done” and by that I mean, to reach my short and long term fitness goals. Besides, I simply do not have the time to hang out in the gym that long. I have been there, done that, with very poor or no result at all. I had been wasting time and money in the past.

But not anymore! Turbulence Training has provided the requirement I wanted: great result in a short time. I don’t spend my time walking aimlessly and doing steady-state cardio. I’m glad I’ve liberated myself from that! I do bodyweight circuits  that is fast-paced, fun and wears me out (in a good way) after only 30 minutes.

My workout schedule looks like this:

Saturday – Monday – Wednesday: Turbulence Training, 30-40 mins each session
Sunday – Tuesday – Thursday: Interval training on elliptical or treadmill (with incline of at least 7). I do varied interval training because it’s fun and challenging and takes out the monotonous routine, it even breaks weight loss plateus: 20s-40s, 20s-10s or 30s-30s.
Friday: Rest or yoga on Wii.

* Those weird looking numbers in the interval training mean 20 seconds of running at 11 kmh followed by an “active rest” of 40 seconds at 6 kmh, done at least 6 times. This type of cardio exercise is called a Tabata Interval. The interval training starts with a warmup and ends with a cooldown. I finish my interval training in 15-18 mins. but my shirt is soaked wet.

If I am up not up to short burst sprints or doing the elliptical, I do 100 jumping jacks-walk in place series, 2-3 times or do 15 squats with 25 lbs of weight, 2-3 times. That seems easy but it feels like my heart is getting out of my chest.

It’s been four weeks since I joined the transformation contest and while I don’t see a “major” transformation in myself, I still took photos (I’ll continue to take photos every four weeks). So it’s time for the shameless shiz again. I believe in democracy so you are all free to laugh or say, “I can’t believe she’s posting these!”

Left: taken 5/4/2009 Right: taken 5/28/2009 (4 weeks after)

* Note to self: Need to take photos from the same angle, same distance!!

Front and side photos taken 5/28/2009. It is so difficult to do this alone (the photo-taking, I mean)!

I am happy that the size of my lower body now, specifically my a*s has reduced its previous Pacific island nation size. Weighted squats, split squats and lunges works wonders.

THE FOUR WEEK JOURNEY
While I only lost 2 kgs (4.4 lbs) in the first four weeks of the challenge, I definitely feel better, stronger, lighter and the jiggly belly has improved. Small progress but if I didn’t commit myself day after day, workout after workout, nothing would have happened – FOUR WEEKS would just pass me by.

I still have lots of work to do but at least the rolls of fat is not showing much anymore. One thing to improve in the next four weeks: Nutrition.

Here’s to another four weeks of Turbulence Training!

Tagged as: bodyweight, craig ballantyne, transformation contest, turbulence training

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